Developers are taking ‘far too long’ to decide what to do with the Deck, Bracknell's MP has said after plans for a nightlife hub fell through last year.

Long-standing ambitions for a new shopping, restaurant, and bar area on the land of the former Bentall’s store in Bracknell were scrapped in October 2023 after developers said the project had become ‘commercially unviable’.

The area opposite The Bull pub on High Street has been boarded off for years since the demolition of the department store in 2021. Little progress was made over the years, with Bracknell Forest Council blaming the pandemic and rising construction costs.

Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, the group in charge of the land, said last year that it would have a ‘major rethink’ over what to do with the site.

Now MP for Bracknell Peter Swallow has weighed in on the issue, telling the News: “I want it to be used for what it was originally intended for, I want the Deck to be built.

“And if the Deck isn’t going to be built, I want the developers who own the land to come forward with an alternative proposal so it can be considered and approved or not.”

The Labour MP added that it has ‘taken far too long’ for this to happen, and that plans for a nightlife hub are ‘what the town centre is missing’.

But he claimed to have little power over the issue: “I will obviously always have conversations with anyone I can have. Ultimately, it’s private land, so they have to decide what they’re going to do with it.”

Plans for the Deck came as part of major transformation plans for Bracknell Town centre, following the successful opening of the Lexicon shopping centre in 2017.

Other proposals include creating a market square with affordable homes on the site of the current bus station and High Street car park.

Mr Swallow, who grew up in Crowthorne, said that the regeneration of the town has been ‘hugely successful’ and has ‘generated a lot of good for the local economy’.

But the MP added that he was ‘concerned’ about the lack of public space in the town centre.

He said: “That’s one reason why I’m broadly supportive of the regeneration plans because it includes plans for more public space. I think it’s really important that a town centre is not just about retail, although retail is important.”

The News has approached the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership for an update on their proposals for the site of the Deck.